Boston Turnout Up

Through 9:00am, 28,180 people had voted in Boston, according to official numbers obtained by the Phoenix. That's a very strong 7.6% of registered voters, and roughly 5500 more than had voted by 9:00 in the January special US Senate election between Scott Brown and Martha Coakley.

Of particular interest, turnout appears to be relatively strong in many minority precincts. Ward 12 (Roxbury) is up 69% over January's early-morning turnout, and Ward 15 (Dorchester--Fields Corner) is up a whopping 80%. Take a bow, Ron Bell!

I'm hearing similar things about typically lower-voting minority precincts elsewhere in the state, including Springfield.

On the other hand, I'm also hearing of strong turnout numbers in suburban areas thought to be full of those "enthusiastic" Republican voters we've heard so much about.

The truth is, we really don't know what it means if turnout really does get up to 2.4 or 2.5 million. And judging by some of these early reports, we may be headed there.